B-17 hangar funding clears the first hurdle
By Terry Murry on Monday, August 12th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has passed its third set of government spending bills for 2025, and they include $2 million to the city of Pendleton for the renovation of the second story of the historic B-17 hangar at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport.
The federal dollars will be used to create a world-class tech accelerator that will help small startups commercialize autonomous systems and robotics. Right now, that second story is not usable.
Pendleton Economic Development Director Steve Chrisman says he’s excited and hopes Congress approves the funding bill intact.
“This Congressionally Directed Spending award will allow the Oregon UAS Accelerator to renovate the currently unusable second story of the historic B-17 hangar (10,000 square feet), creating state-of-the-art, ADA compliant workspace and increasing the number of startups the accelerator can assist.”
Also one of the proposed bills sets aside $567,000 for the Morrow County Health District to purchase a new computed tomography (CT) machine for Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner. The new machine would offer an 80 percent reduction of radiation to patients and employees and significantly reduce wait times. The spending bills must be approved by Congress and signed by the president.
